


Abashed

by afteriwake



Series: I Can Explain... [6]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Butt Dialing, Embarrassed Molly, Embarrassed Sherlock, Embarrassment, Established Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, F/M, Fluff, Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper Kissing, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-03
Updated: 2016-03-03
Packaged: 2018-05-24 13:48:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6155656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock and Molly are having a perfectly normal conversation about their relationship that, out of context, sounds just a <i>tad</i> risqué. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, as they are alone in her flat, but unfortunately, Molly accidentally pocket dials Sherlock’s mother…who overhears almost the entire thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Abashed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [IdrisSmith](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IdrisSmith/gifts), [Chitarra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chitarra/gifts).



> And the series is almost done! This prompt was given to me by the lovely **Chitarra** , and it went as follows: " _What about Sherlock accidentally pocket dialing his mother, who overhears him and Molly talking about something totally innocent, but sounds horrible out of context when she only hears part of the conversation, and she freaks out on Sherlock?_ " I had so much fun with this...

If the truth was to be told, he didn’t _really_ like keeping his relationship secret. At the rate their friends were finding out, soon the entire bloody world would know. He’d rather have it come out on his own terms, in his own way. And really, other than the potential threat of Moriarty, what point was there in keeping it quiet? Molly had a target on her back regardless; either way, by now, Moriarty had to have realized Molly was instrumental in him faking his death. He already had to know she was important to him. What more harm could there be in him acknowledging to the world he was madly, passionately, deeply in love with her as well?

So he had asked her to meet with him tonight to talk. He wanted this to be a conversation they had face to face, in the privacy of her home. As recent events had shown they would likely have little privacy at Baker Street; far too many people could intrude, and this was a conversation that needed to be had where no one could barge in. She had said that if he was going to come over to at least make a date out of it, so they’d enjoyed a nice dinner and she’d had a glass of wine and now they were curled up on her sofa, Molly reclining against him. It was a rather comfortable position, or would be, if his mobile wasn’t in such an awkward position for him. But Molly seemed comfortable enough, and he didn’t want to ask her to move.

“So what are we going to do?” she asked as his fingers played on her arm. “Most of our friends know. It’s likely our secret could be broadcast to the world at any given moment. I mean, if someone says the wrong thing to the wrong person, or makes the wrong insinuation…” She shifted slightly, pushing his mobile further into him. “It just makes it all that much harder.”

“We could go public,” he said. “Bring it out on our own terms. Tell the world our dirty little secret.”

She gave a slight chuckle. “So it’s a _dirty_ little secret, eh?” she asked.

“Well, it’s not as though all the things we do are exactly vanilla,” he said.

“No, I suppose they aren’t,” she replied, moving her hand to tap her fingers on his thigh. “We were getting up to some very interesting hijinks while we were handcuffed together.”

“Yes.” He pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “And you are a bit of a minx. You have some very interesting ideas. You’re quite creative.”

“It’s not as though you’re any slouch in that department either, you know,” she said. “I suppose it wouldn’t be so bad if it was out in the open. At least if we do it on our terms there won’t be any tabloid headlines like ‘Sherlock Homes Brings Secrets Kinks Out Into The Open.’” She shifted her position again and then turned to face him. “Knowing our luck, it’d sell all the tabloids and we wouldn’t make a cent.”

“We could always ask for Janine’s help in how she sold her sto—” There was a muffled ringing from the vicinity of his thigh and both of their eyes widened. “What the hell?” he asked as Molly slowly moved away from him. He shifted slightly to fish his mobile out of his trouser pocket and if it was at all possible his eyes grew even wider when he saw that his mother was calling. 

“Who is it?” Molly asked quietly.

“Hello, Mum,” he said as he put the mobile to his ear.

“William Sherlock Scott Holmes, you dial me at home and then you…you proceed to have such a _filthy_ conversation with…with a _scarlet_ woman!” Violet Holmes fumed. He saw Molly began to turn a bright shade of red and he knew she was loud enough to be heard clearly even though he had the phone to his ear.

“Mum, it’s not what you think it is,” he said, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose as he eased himself off Molly’s sofa, starting to pace back and forth in front of it.

“Then you had best explain exactly what it was, young man,” she said, almost in a huff.

“I was having a conversation with my girlfriend, and I dialed you by mistake,” he said. “We were discussing the fact that we’ve been trying our best to keep our relationship secret, for reasons of her safety, and yet we keep getting found out while in compromising positions.”

There was a long pause. “Girlfriend?” his mother finally said.

“Yes,” he replied. “I believe I’ve mentioned her before, at length. My pathologist, Molly Hooper.” Molly lifted her head up at that, giving him a slightly curious look. “Right now, with the threat Moriarty hold still being an imminent one, we’ve decided to keep our relationship secret. _Unfortunately_ , it hasn’t worked out as well as we’ve hoped.”

“I see,” his mother said. “But you _were_ planning on introducing us?”

“Yes,” Sherlock said.

“ _Before_ there was a marriage and grandchildren?” she asked.

Sherlock stood stock still at that question. He hadn’t quite thought of that. He’d considered it, vaguely. Sometimes. Often. He’d just, well, rather assumed there would be, at some point in the future. That Molly would be there…well, for a long time. The rest of his life, if he was lucky. But he hadn’t really thought of the logistics of it all. “Yes,” he said slowly.

“Fine. But I want to meet her. In person. As soon as it’s deemed safe.”

“Very well,” he said with a sigh. “Just…Mum?”

“Yes?” Violet asked.

“ _Please_ don’t breathe a word of this to Mycroft.”

“I won’t, dear. I promise.”

He shut his eyes. He knew damn well that promise would only last until Mycroft once again insisted he had no need to carry on the family name. Which, knowing his brother, could be anywhere from a matter of hours to a matter of days. Knowing their mother, knowing that she now knew that he had a girlfriend, she’d purposefully bring up the issue with Mycroft so he was betting on mere hours. “Thank you,” he murmured, not really meaning it. “I’ll make arrangements for you to meet Molly as soon as the danger has passed.”

“I’m holding you to that, William. And no more lascivious phone calls again, dear, all right?”

“Yes, Mum.” He hung up then and looked at Molly with a sigh. “I give Mycroft till the end of the evening to find out about our relationship, if he didn’t already know,” he said, sinking on the sofa and running a hand through his hair. 

After a moment he turned and realized Molly was still in a state of shock. He ran a hand in front of her face, getting no reaction, and then reached over and pulled her onto his lap before kissing her. That seemed to do the trick, and then she looked up at him. “Your mum…what does she think of me?” she asked.

“She thought you were a scarlet woman,” he said.

“Oh, God,” she said, flushing.

“But then when I mentioned you were my girlfriend, and who exactly you were, she said she wanted to meet you as soon as it was safe,” he said, smoothing her hair back. “She’s been quite intrigued by you. I think she’ll be more intrigued when she realizes I’m madly in love with you, because no one thought that would ever happen.”

A small, warm smile crossed her face. “Is that right?” she asked.

He nodded, leaning in again. “Madly, passionately, deeply in love with you,” he said, punctuating each word with a kiss before ending his sentence with a deep, passionate one. She clung to him, and after a moment he picked her up and began to carry her to her bedroom. They didn’t make much headway on their problem tonight, but tomorrow…they could work more on it tomorrow. Tonight he wanted to show his scarlet woman just how much he loved her.


End file.
